What a weird game for the Lakers.
Early on it seemed as though that the Lakers would be having easily their worst loss of the season, as they were losing by around 20 in multiple moments in the first and second half. They found help from their bench to keep it close all the way until the end, but it ended up not being enough as they lost to a below .500 team for the first time this season as the Orlando Magic won 119-118.
Lakers end the 2nd quarter on a 18-6 run, 3rd quarter on a 22-2 run
Tonight, the Lakers were either playing like the early 2000s 3-peat Lakers or the Ryan Kelly-and-Robert Sacre-led Lakers. Sadly if you ever play like either of those two players, then you have a good chance to lose to anyone.
Quinn Cook and Troy Daniels red hot off the bench
Speaking of these huge runs, they could almost all be attributed to Quinn Cook and Troy (a.k.a. Trey) Daniels. The two combined for 39 points on 8-of-12 three-point shooting as well as a combined +/- of +40.
You really have to commend them for stepping up big tonight, as they’re more used to only getting around five to 10 minutes per game. It’s hard to go from that to being a much needed part of a huge comeback.
Uncharacteristic night from LeBron James
The King didn’t look like himself at times tonight, especially in the first half. He ultimately ended up with 19 points, three rebounds, and 19 assists (this part is insane), with a +/- of -9. Although he was distributing well, he missed 12 of his 19 shot attempts. He looked like he didn’t care at all much in the first half, especially when the team went down by upwards of 25 points.
He seemed to ramp it up a little more in the second half once a win was attainable, but sadly, this had to happen.
— pickuphoop (@pickuphoop) January 16, 2020
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The Lakers will now be going on their five-game “Grammy” road trip, starting in Houston as they will play the Rockets for the first time this season on Saturday night.
